


The Best Part of Waking Up

by slightlytookish



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-31
Updated: 2012-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-30 10:03:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/330531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlytookish/pseuds/slightlytookish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin never meant to make a habit of buying coffee every day, but there's a new barista in town and he's just a bit charming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Part of Waking Up

**Author's Note:**

> Written for gwaine_quest's Jamuary Quest. Thank you to fizzyblogic for Britpicking.

Merlin knows he's half-asleep but even he can see that his coffee has the wrong name on it.

"Erm," he says, trying to hand it back to the barista, the new guy with the long hair and a smile that's far too charming for this hour of the morning. "I think this is someone else's. I'm not Gwaine."

"I know," the guy says, still grinning. "You're Merlin. I heard you tell Leon when you ordered. _I'm_ Gwaine."

Merlin looks from Gwaine to Leon at the till and back again. It's too early for his brain to manage anything resembling critical thinking. "So... this is yours?" He tries once more to return the cup but Gwaine shakes his head.

"Nah, I just wanted to introduce myself." 

A smile tugs at Merlin's lips. He knows he should probably go - he has a bus to catch and an early lecture to attend - but he can't help lingering a moment longer. "You could've just said hello."

"Where's the fun in that?" Gwaine keeps stealing glances at him as he finishes up the next order. "So what's got you so bleary-eyed this morning? A hangover, or-" His eyes drift over to Merlin's bulging rucksack. "Did someone stay up late revising?"

"I was writing an essay, actually."

"Literature student?"

"How did you guess?" Merlin waits for the inevitable _So, are you going to be a teacher?_ question but it never comes. Instead Gwaine hands two vanilla lattes to a pair of giggly teenagers and reaches into the pastry display. 

"Here," he says, stuffing a slice of lemon loaf into a bag and pushing it into Merlin's hands. "Brain food."

"No, I couldn't-"

"Made it myself."

"You didn't. Did you really?"

Gwaine laughs and turns back to the espresso machine. "See you around, Merlin."

The crowd is closing in around him, full of people waiting for their coffees, and Merlin really can't afford to miss that bus. "Thanks, Gwaine," he says, raising the cake in a little wave as he turns to go.

He receives a grin in return and the thrill of it keeps a smile on Merlin's face as he pushes his way out of the door and into the cold winter morning. 

*

Merlin doesn't intend to make a habit of buying coffee every day. For one thing, the queue is always so long that someday he really is going to be late for a lecture. Not to mention that he has a coffee machine of his own, an old battered thing that used to be his mother's but still manages to make a decent cup of coffee. He certainly doesn't need to waste his time or his money on some fancy overpriced drink. 

And yet he finds himself at the coffee shop the following morning. Gwaine spots him straight away amidst the crowd and gives him an appallingly flirtatious wink. Merlin feels his cheeks grow warm but he can't help smiling back. 

When he finally reaches the front of the queue his coffee is waiting for him and scrawled across the side of the cup is a phone number. It makes Merlin's heart jump a little, and he ducks his head, trying to hide his blush as it comes roaring back. "Does this usually work for you?" he says, unconsciously running his thumb across the number.

"You'll have to let me know," Gwaine says and Merlin's head snaps up in surprise to find that Gwaine's watching him closely. He snags a scone from the display and shoves it into Merlin's hand, letting his fingers linger around Merlin's wrist. "Never tried it on anyone before."

The sounds of the shop fall away, and all Merlin can think about is the feel of Gwaine's fingers curling warm and gentle against his skin and making his heart leap again. He thinks he should probably say something but before he can get his thoughts in order a throat clears nearby and they both look up to find Leon looming over them with a distinctly unamused expression on his face.

Merlin snatches his hand away guiltily and blinks, startled, like he's just stumbled out of the dark and into a sunlit room. The noises of the coffee shop return then - the murmured conversations, the jazz playing softly on the radio - and even though the queue is worse than ever Gwaine doesn't look particularly concerned as he turns his attention to the next order. 

"See you around, Merlin," he says over the whirring of the milk steamer. Merlin stammers out some response before he darts out of the door under Leon's watchful gaze, but later, after he's finished his coffee, he taps Gwaine's phone number into his mobile with a smile.

*

The next time Gwaine hands him a coffee, _My shift ends at 4_ is scribbled along the side of the cup. 

He waggles his eyebrows encouragingly, but Merlin only laughs and shakes his head, feeling amused and a little flustered. "See you around, Gwaine," he says, and goes off to his lecture. 

But he's waiting outside the shop at four o'clock, and he surprises himself by greeting Gwaine with a kiss.

*

Merlin doesn't buy a coffee the following morning. 

Instead, Gwaine makes him one at home and serves it in a chipped green mug decorated with flamingos wearing sunglasses. Merlin accepts it, sleepy-eyed, and yanks Gwaine back into bed with a grin.


End file.
